Yesterday, the preacher at church spoke about osmosis, the process of nature trying to make everything equal.  He applied it to human relationships in the sense that what’s around you gets inside you and called it “Relational Osmosis.”  I’ve said it before, but I believe it’s worth saying again: you should surround yourself with people you admire, people who build you up, and people who inspire you.  Dylan and I are so lucky to have parents who do just that.  Last weekend, in fact, Dylan’s parents came down to help us with our new home.  While we still have some hefty projects to complete, they let us be creative in a way that we usually are not and guided us in re-doing an old coffee table AND building a kitchen table.  This post is not photography related (in fact, all of these photos were shot on Auto – YIKES!), but is still for all the soon-to-be-newlyweds out there who are in the process of decorating a home together (as Dylan and I are).

First, Dylan’s mom and I went out looking for a coffee table.  Around 4 hours later, we returned with a well-built one found at a consignment shop.  The top was a blonde-wood color that I do not like, but the bottom was beautiful wrought iron.  So we took the top off and started sanding it outside.  

Then, we wiped it down with Acetone.

After it was clean, we put the table in the shade and applied a stain.

Once that dried, Dylan’s mom painted and after a few moments, I wiped off the paint.

We waited for that to dry completely, then brought the table inside.  Our home has lots of turquoise and orange colors throughout, so we added some of our orange to the table to tie them together a bit more.  

Then, we applied an antiquing wax (we use Harrell’s) and rubbed it off.  Now, our table looks like this (don’t mind the dirty floors….):

Since his mom and I had “created” – ok more like transformed/completed – the coffee table, Dylan and his dad had the urge to create something, as well (Relational Osmosis: whats around you gets inside you).  A few years ago, when I got my first apartment, my oldest sister gave me a kitchen table that used to belong to her husband during his bachelor days which have been over for almost 8 years.  The table has served as my desk and a kitchen table, but now that Dylan and I are in a house, we need the table to be a bit bigger.  That table is what Dylan decided to make his afternoon project.  We got a one-of-a-kind kitchen table for about $50 using the base of the table my sister had given me years ago.  First, Dylan and his dad went to buy the wood ($46) for the table.  We like really natural looking pieces that are a bit rustic, so they did not buy stain-grade wood.  They brought it home and sanded the labels off it.

While Dylan’s mom spray painted ($6) the base of the old table.  

After they secured the new wood that had been cut to size to the base of the old table, they sanded it some more.

and sanded it some more.  

Then, they mitered the end and corner pieces that would go around the edges of the table.

After the end pieces were attached and wood putty was spread over every seam, we sanded it, again and again and again.  The edges were sanded, as well, so that the corners were more rounded and not so harsh.  This is what it looked like:

Since Dylan and I like darker-colored pieces, we stained it with the same stain from the coffee table.

Even though we were pretty proud of it at this point, we weren’t finished.  Dylan’s mom put our turquoise color into the knots of the wood and I wiped off the paint.  We did the same thing with our cream paint, trying to emphasize the light colors that was in the wood naturally.  Then, we waxed it a few times and rubbed it off.  

Now, our kitchen table is one that we’re proud to say we built together and will hopefully have for years to come.

My mother-in-law is really super artsy and creative.  While she was here, she introduced me to a website that is all about taking old pieces of furniture and creating pieces that are personal and beautiful.  You can check it out at: http://www.allthingsthrifty.com.

– Mylah Renae

www.Eureka-Photography.com